Wendell Potter

[Chris]

CNN) – When Wendell Potter first saw them, he froze.

“It felt like touching an electrical fence,” he says. “I remember tearing up and thinking, how could this be real.”

Thousands of them had lined up under a cloudy sky in an open field. Many had camped out the night before. When their turns came, doctors treated them in animal stalls and on gurneys placed on rain-soaked sidewalks.

They were Americans who needed basic medical care. Potter had driven to the Wise County Fairgrounds in Virginia in July 2007 after reading that a group called Remote Area Medical, which flew American doctors to remote Third World villages, was hosting a free outdoor clinic.

Potter, a Cigna health care executive who ate from gold-rimmed silverware in corporate jets, says that morning was his “Road to Damascus” experience.

“It looked like a refugee camp,” Potter says. “It just hit me like a bolt of lightning. What I was doing for a living was making it necessary for people to resort to getting care in animal stalls.”

A health care 'Judas' recounts his conversion – CNN Belief Blog - CNN.com Blogs

 

[Lakhota]

Great thread. I'm a big Wendell Potter fan.

 

[Two Thumbs]

He went back to his job.

then wrote a book and turned a profit.

made more money with speaking engagements

and now demands that the government run HC

No mention of how much money he'd donated or how many free clinics he sponsors.

Why is that?

 

[Lakhota]

Does anyone remember this woman during the health care reform debates? She is pretty much the antithesis of Wendell Potter.

Karen Ignagni (b. 1954, Niagara Falls, NY) is the president and chief executive officer of America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) former HIAA (Health Insurance Association of America). She is often mentioned as one of the most effective lobbyists and the most powerful people in healthcare. She is involved in health care reform in the United States, working to benefit health insurance companies.

More: Karen Ignagni - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Lakhota]

He went back to his job.

then wrote a book and turned a profit.

made more money with speaking engagements

and now demands that the government run HC

No mention of how much money he'd donated or how many free clinics he sponsors.

Why is that?

Maybe Wendell doesn't think it's any of your business. He more than paid his dues when he blew the whistle, much like the tobacco industry insider did.

Maybe you'd like to ask Wendell some questions? You can contact him via the following:

Wendell Potter

 

[Political Junky]

Thank God for Wendell Potter. He's done so much to reveal the inner workings of the "health" industry.

 

[Two Thumbs]

He went back to his job.

then wrote a book and turned a profit.

made more money with speaking engagements

and now demands that the government run HC

No mention of how much money he'd donated or how many free clinics he sponsors.

Why is that?

Maybe Wendell doesn't think it's any of your business. He more than paid his dues when he blew the whistle, much like the tobacco industry insider did.

Maybe you'd like to ask Wendell some questions? You can contact him via the following:

Wendell Potter

in other words, he's not setting the example by digging into his deep pockets to help people, he's digging into ours while making money to demand that we do so.

some hero ya got there

 

[Lakhota]

He went back to his job.

then wrote a book and turned a profit.

made more money with speaking engagements

and now demands that the government run HC

No mention of how much money he'd donated or how many free clinics he sponsors.

Why is that?

Maybe Wendell doesn't think it's any of your business. He more than paid his dues when he blew the whistle, much like the tobacco industry insider did.

Maybe you'd like to ask Wendell some questions? You can contact him via the following:

Wendell Potter

in other words, he's not setting the example by digging into his deep pockets to help people, he's digging into ours while making money to demand that we do so.

some hero ya got there

Why don't you ask him? What does he owe you? Hint: Nothing.

 

[tererun]

CNN) – When Wendell Potter first saw them, he froze.

“It felt like touching an electrical fence,” he says. “I remember tearing up and thinking, how could this be real.”

Thousands of them had lined up under a cloudy sky in an open field. Many had camped out the night before. When their turns came, doctors treated them in animal stalls and on gurneys placed on rain-soaked sidewalks.

They were Americans who needed basic medical care. Potter had driven to the Wise County Fairgrounds in Virginia in July 2007 after reading that a group called Remote Area Medical, which flew American doctors to remote Third World villages, was hosting a free outdoor clinic.

Potter, a Cigna health care executive who ate from gold-rimmed silverware in corporate jets, says that morning was his “Road to Damascus” experience.

“It looked like a refugee camp,” Potter says. “It just hit me like a bolt of lightning. What I was doing for a living was making it necessary for people to resort to getting care in animal stalls.”

A health care 'Judas' recounts his conversion – CNN Belief Blog - CNN.com Blogs

Could you imagine how many jobs would be created to organize, record, and provide healthcare for all those people? Suddenly you would need all those unemployed people to ctreate and run this endeavor and that would create tax revenue through income tax and commerce taxes as all those poor people suddenly had good paying jobs. Some see the baby boomers as a crippling group of beneficiaries, but if it is done by the government it would also be a huge job boom.

 

[jillian]

He went back to his job.

then wrote a book and turned a profit.

made more money with speaking engagements

and now demands that the government run HC

No mention of how much money he'd donated or how many free clinics he sponsors.

Why is that?

well, the book would tell people what was going on. i wouldn't begrudge his getting paid for it. and it doesn't
diminish his experience.

the government isn't running health care...it was trying to make sure everyone has COVERAGE.

i don't know why that's such a difficult distinction to get.

unless one intentionally doesn't want to get it.

 

[bigrebnc1775]

Wendell Potter is that the half brother of Harry Potter?

 

[editec]

Our HC payment delivery system is fraught with inefficiencies.

Those inefficencies are all due to market forces.

 

[OODA_Loop]

Our HC payment delivery system is fraught with inefficiencies.

Those inefficiencies are all due to market forces.

True market forces drive efficiency as component of profit.

Government regulation has the opposite effect.

 

[JoeB131]

He went back to his job.

then wrote a book and turned a profit.

made more money with speaking engagements

and now demands that the government run HC

No mention of how much money he'd donated or how many free clinics he sponsors.

Why is that?

Maybe Wendell doesn't think it's any of your business. He more than paid his dues when he blew the whistle, much like the tobacco industry insider did.

Maybe you'd like to ask Wendell some questions? You can contact him via the following:

Wendell Potter

in other words, he's not setting the example by digging into his deep pockets to help people, he's digging into ours while making money to demand that we do so.

some hero ya got there

Who says he's "digging into yours"? Somehow, I doubt you're rich.

You're already paying for the current system. The problem with the current system is that it leaves people untreated while Ed Hanaway gets a 72 Million dollar retirement package.

 

[JoeB131]

Our HC payment delivery system is fraught with inefficiencies.

Those inefficiencies are all due to market forces.

True market forces drive efficiency as component of profit.

Government regulation has the opposite effect.

An "efficient" system would euthanize the terminally ill.

Seriously, remove all humanity from it, and that's the logical thing to do. They are going to die anyway. Why waste the money? 11% of all the money we spend is on people who are terminal, prolonging their lives.

Frankly, I wouldn't want whether I live or die to be determined on someone's ability to make a profit and neither would you.

 

[Mr. Shaman]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QwX_soZ1GI]BILL MOYERS JOURNAL | Wendell Potter | PBS - YouTube[/ame]

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[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wi1acHg3mhw]BILL MOYERS JOURNAL | Single Payer Health Insurance | PBS - YouTube[/ame]​

 

[Mr. Shaman]

Sick Around The World​

*

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxNhOBemsic]Q&A: T.R. Reid - YouTube[/ame]​

 

[Mr. Shaman]

He went back to his job.

then wrote a book and turned a profit.

Try, again, Bubblehead......​

"You know, certainly, I knew people, and I talked to people who were uninsured. But when you're in the executive offices, when you're getting prepared for a call with an analyst, in the financial medium, what you think about are the numbers. You don't think about individual people. You think about the numbers, and whether or not you're going to meet Wall Street's expectations. That's what you think about, at that level. And it helps to think that way. That's why you-- that enables you to stay there, if you don't really think that you're talking about and dealing with real human beings."

Wendell Potter​

 

[Mr. Shaman]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xlpcDnr7eM]Keith Olbermann - Wendell Potter Apologizes To Michael Moore - YouTube[/ame]​

 

[buckeye45_73]

He went back to his job.

then wrote a book and turned a profit.

made more money with speaking engagements

and now demands that the government run HC

No mention of how much money he'd donated or how many free clinics he sponsors.

Why is that?

Maybe Wendell doesn't think it's any of your business. He more than paid his dues when he blew the whistle, much like the tobacco industry insider did.

Maybe you'd like to ask Wendell some questions? You can contact him via the following:

Wendell Potter

WOW you swallow everything these guys say. It's amazing, all he has to do is blow the whistle? Are you sure it's a whistle?